One Step Back, Two Steps Forward
by Webdog177
Summary: We met at the local community center. At a group therapy meeting. For blind people. There's a certain sense of irony in the statement 'love at first sight' here somewhere. Mind the 'M' rating. [Modern AU. Whiterose]


Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY or it's characters. If I did, you can bet there'd be much more sex and Romcom shenanigans.

A/N: This is something new and interesting. This was actually something original I wrote for publication purposes - I won't say _which_ publication, because that would technically be advertising and advertising is a sin (lol not really, but seriously), but I will say that it was an erotica publisher - and I ended up liking immensely even after the fact. As a result, I decided to convert it to another Whiterose smutfic because, we all could do with yet another WR smutfic, can't we?

Of course we can. Especially with the recent RWBY episodes. But that's a rant for another day.

So, if this seems too OOC, its because it's supposed to be. But that never stopped anyone from enjoying good erotica, right?

Enjoy.

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 **One Step Back, Two Steps Forward**

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We met at the local community center.

At a group therapy meeting.

For blind people.

There's a certain sense of irony in the statement 'love at first sight' here somewhere.

It was actually her tone, how vocal and approachable she was, that first attracted my attention… opposites attract and all that. Out of the small group of other people, usually consisting of anywhere from five to ten men and women on any given day, ranging from horribly nearsighted teenagers all the way to completely blind retirees, she was the only one to pull me out of my isolated slump and turn my attention when she spoke.

I was only six months fresh from waking up blind in the hospital with a concussion and a small, closed fracture in the back of my skull and told the news that I was likely blinded for the rest of my life.

Well, that was just _ducky_.

I had taken the news well, considering. My doctor told me that it would take time to come to terms with my situation; to spend time with friends, family and significant others.

All at once, I lost so much; my place on my university track team, my scholarship because I couldn't participate in classes, and any lasting support besides my family; and they could only do so much before I was fed up with bothering them.

Group therapy hadn't been my first plan in dealing with my blindness. My parents knew that, and I knew that. But that didn't stop them from suggesting it, and neither did it stop me from going.

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I was accosted soon after my very first meeting. I say 'accosted' only because I didn't notice her coming. I had barely even walked out of the front doors, feeling around with my cane for the steps down to the parking lot, when I heard her speak.

"Hi! You're Weiss, right?"

I squeaked and jumped where I stood, startled at the voice that seemingly came from nowhere. It took me a moment to recognize it as belonging to the woman that had introduced herself to the group at the beginning of the meeting. Ruby, I thought her name had been.

"Y-yeah," I stammered, turning to face the voice. "And you're…"

"Ruby," She confirmed my memory with a _tap tap_ from her own cane, her smile obvious from her tone even though I couldn't see it. "Nice to meet you, Weiss."

"You too," I said, feeling awkward since I couldn't actually _see_ the woman standing a few feet away. Even months later, I had little idea of how these kind of blind introductions were supposed to go. Was I supposed to try and shake her hand? That would be weird; mainly because I was freakishly short and I usually missed offered hands completely. But luckily, I could tell from where her voice was coming from that she was about as short as I was. Thank the gods for small favors.

I pictured a smallish bubbly young woman – maybe late teens or early twenties, like me – in casual jeans and a t-shirt. Her hair might have been short or long, blonde or black… I didn't know. I found myself hoping it was short and black, as I always thought that look was attractive. But I had no way of knowing for sure now. Damn my luck.

"Um, can I help you?"

"Are you free right now?" She asked without preamble.

I blinked – it was another habit I hadn't broken from my days when I could still see – and gripped my cane tighter. "I… I guess?"

It was as if she could read the wariness in my voice, as a moment later, she laughed nervously, "Yeah, sorry… I should really explain. I thought your introduction was nice earlier. I don't really meet many girls my age, and when I do, they're usually scared off because of the whole 'I'm blind' thing. I wanted to try and talk to you during the session but that would have been weird, and you didn't talk much so I thought you maybe didn't want to talk. It was your first meeting so I can understand that, but I still wanted to talk to you. So I asked the group leader if you left already and he told me where you went and… _wow_ , I'm rambling…"

She took a deep breath, held it, and then exhaled. "Um… so, yeah, are you free? Or have I scared you off for the foreseeable future?"

I blinked again, feeling like I was on some kind of new reality show where they caught lesbians on camera in embarrassing situations. I mean, seriously; either this was the weirdest instance of picking a girl up I had ever been subjected to – the fact that the both of us were blind being the least strange about it – or I was just drastically misreading things.

"Are you… asking me out?" I asked, because I legitimately had to be sure.

"If I said yes, would that mean I was successful at my super awkward attempt at flirting? Because this all sounded much smoother in my head a minute ago."

Well, let it never be said that my gaydar went wonky along with my sight. Still tight as a drum.

"What did you have in mind?"

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"So, I think it's safe to assume that, by the second date, I'm allowed to ask the 'big question'."

Ruby's tone was light; conversational. Like she was just asking about the weather, she spoke so offhandedly that I almost overlooked it as I chewed on my hamburger. It took me a moment to pick out the air quotes in her words, and when I did I put my sandwich down.

"The 'big question'? What big question would that be?"

"How'd you get blind?" When I didn't answer right away, she cleared her throat, "I mean, if you don't wanna talk about it, I understand. I just…"

"No, its fine," I propped my up chin with my hands. "It was during a race. I was on the track team at my university and I was accidentally tripped. I fell, cracked the back of my head on the ground, and _pow_ – lights out." I let that hang for a moment, and then smiled. "Apparently, I rolled across the finish line in the end. Or so I heard."

Ruby's grin bled into her tone. "Of course you did. Shit, I'm shocked you managed that at all. I'd have totally just ate it – no dignity at all."

"Yeah, well, I was lucky." I snorted, leaning back in my seat. "For all I know, if I'd have just eaten it like a normal person I could have woken up with just a bad headache or a broken leg."

Ruby giggled, and I heard the _thump thump thump_ of her fingertips on the tabletop. I responded by reaching over and finding her hand, letting hers cover mine. "Well, I'm glad you're so lucky, then. If you _had_ woken up with just a bad headache or a broken leg, then we wouldn't have met."

"Yeah," I said simply, letting her fingers trace over the back of my hand.

When you couldn't see, you tend to let your other senses take over; your hearing, your touch, your taste and your smell. Before, when a girl held my hand, it just felt nice. Now, when I couldn't see her hand enveloping mine and her index finger rubbing small circles over my skin, I could only concentrate on the _feeling_ of Ruby's thumb brushing against my knuckles, and how it might feel other places on my body.

Whoa, down girl. Behave.

"So… your turn," I coughed, trying to stifle the feeling of sudden arousal that tugged at my belly. "Spill."

Ruby chuckled softly, and I could feel her shrug as her hand moved away from mine. "Degenerative disease. It was hereditary. I began to lose my sight when I was a kid. Completely blind by ten."

"Wow," I said, because _damn_. "That sucks."

"It is what it is. Apparently, my grandmother on my dad's side was also blind. She died before I was born so…" She paused, and I heard her take a bite of her sandwich, chew, and swallow. "We had no idea until I couldn't read my school textbooks from just a foot away." She laughed, "Actually it was pretty funny. I was running into shit all the time. I remember this little helmet I used to wear before I got used to my cane; I used to wear that thing _everywhere_ , even to dinner. I thought it was cool."

I smiled, imagining a little girl wearing an oversized bicycle helmet to the dinner table. "Cute."

"Oh, you know it," She paused again and I listened as she took a drink from her straw, the loud sucking sound echoing from her cup. She gave it a shake, and ' _humph'_ ed quietly. "Just ice. Hook me up?"

"All yours," I pushed my half-finished soda across the table. Reaching out with my other hand and feeling around for hers, I directed it to my cup. She felt the cup and punched her straw through its top. I was about to pull my hand away when she laced her fingers in mine, keeping it firmly in her grasp.

I was more than okay with that.

"So, tell me about what you do for fun. What's your favorite kind of music?"

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"I have kind of a weird request." Ruby suddenly declared during our third date.

"Um… okay?" I said, curiosity getting the better of me. I honestly didn't know what to expect. Ruby's idea of 'weird' ranged anywhere from dipping her french fries in buffalo sauce to wanting a real live Mogwai for Christmas. It was actually part of her charm. "What's up?"

"Can I feel your face?"

I froze, my eyebrows lifting in surprise. She wanted to feel my face. Coming from most people, that _would_ be a bit weird. But after a moment it occurred to me that, like me, she had no idea what the other looked like, and this would be the only way to find out, short of a description I wasn't sure she would understand even if I told her.

Honestly, I was surprised she hadn't asked before now.

"Yeah… go ahead."

I felt around on the bench between us for her right hand, which I took in mine and guided to my face before letting go. We were in the park near the community center our group met at, and by my estimation it should have been early evening – the chill of mid-fall was noticeable, and sounds of people loitering around us were starting to dwindle – but I only heard enveloping silence as Ruby's hands moved over and around my features, from my chin, to my cheeks, to my forehead and my hair.

It was a bit strange, having another person feel my face like that, but I had expected it to feel a lot more disquieting than it did. I knew from experience that it was meant to be an entirely practical method for blind people to tell how someone looked, functionally no different from simply looking at someone's face. But still, it was oddly soothing.

Her hands were soft, but what took me by surprise was the deftness of her fingers, not to mention how sure even the slightest of her movements were. I had no doubt that her level of tactile feeling was far better than mine was. After all, she had been blind more than half her life as opposed to six months.

Her hands ran briefly through my long hair, her fingers sliding through my haphazardly-done ponytail before retreating again. She returned to my face and moved over my eyelids, my nose and lingered for a moment on my lips, before finally pulling away.

I was sure that every inch of my face had been committed to her memory and, as I felt her straighten beside me, I exhaled shakily.

"I don't mean to sound shallow or anything, but thank _fuck_ you're hot."

I hadn't been expecting that. "What?" I sputtered incredulously. "H-how the… _seriously_?"

"Hey, just because I'm blind doesn't mean I don't have my own preferences." She giggled, "And you definitely fit the bill."

"Gee, thanks," I snorted, and before I could say anything else, I felt her hand gently clasp mine.

"Feel mine?"

"Okay," I replied, letting her guide my hand up towards her face.

My fingers traced the contours of a small chin, smooth cheekbones, her forehead, and the edge of her scalp. I ran my fingers through her hair, catching on a hair clip pinned to the side of her head, down to the tips dusting her collarbone.

"What color is your hair?" I asked.

"Dark. Brown. Black. Somewhere in between."

Dark, shoulder length hair. Perfect.

I brought my hand back up to the top of her head and down the center of her face, tracing her profile the same way she did with mine moments before. I felt her eyes – small, almond-shaped – and the bridge of her nose, and then her lips. They were small, but full and soft. At that moment I wanted nothing more than to kiss her.

I told her so, and I felt her lips curl up into a smile.

"I thought you'd never ask."

Her lip balm tasted like honey and peppermint.

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Watching a movie blind is not too different from watching it while still being able to see. At least, that's what I thought while sitting on Ruby's couch, her thigh pressed up against mine and her hand occasionally brushing my forearm.

I say it was a lot like watching a movie while being able to see, but that was only because we were watching a movie I had seen before. I could recall the faces of the actors and the settings they were in, and the fact that I could still hear Doc Brown yell out _'one point twenty-one gigawatts?!'_ , only helped build my mental picture of the scene. I wasn't sure if I could manage with recent movies this way – or movies I hadn't seen before I lost my sight – but I could still enjoy some of them. Audio descriptions helped, too.

A nudge at my side turned my attention from the teenager and his scientist mentor to the woman beside me, and I smiled. "Doin' alright over there?"

"Oh yeah, totally," Ruby replied, shifting closer to me so that she was nestled under my arm. "Never heard this movie before. It's funny."

"It was my favorite for a long time."

"I can tell why."

We went silent again for a while as the movie played. I sat there, Ruby propped up against me comfortably, and soon her slight touches against my arm and leg became less infrequent, and more drawn out, lingering. I couldn't very well turn my head to look at her, so I made do with simply tilting my head down to nuzzle against hers. It was a little uncomfortable, but her pleased hum more than made up for it.

"What's up?"

"I was just wondering…" She said softly, as though she was just thinking aloud.

"Yeah?" Something about her voice made mine equally quiet, and I instinctively leaned closer.

"At what point in a relationship would you say it doesn't seem slutty to sleep together? I'm… asking for a friend. And for science. Because science is a thing."

I smiled, pressing my lips against the side of her head - right below her hairline. "Oh yeah? Well, that depends on the kind of relationship your friend has."

"A lot like ours, now that you mention it," she replied. Her hand fell to my thigh. I answered the silent gesture by covering it with my own.

"Hmm… I see. Science is indeed a thing. Well, using our example, which date are we on?"

"The fourth."

I chuckled, feeling out with my free hand to map out the features of her face; her cheek, eyes, nose, and then mouth. Finding my goal, I hooked the bottom of her chin with my finger and tilted her face up towards me so I could place a kiss on the corner of her mouth. "Then I'd have to say… the third sounds about right."

"Thank fuck for that."

She was moving even before she finished speaking; I felt her body shift as she turned, the hand on my thigh tightening so she could throw her leg over mine. I shouldn't have been surprised by her sudden aggressiveness, as she had been pretty forward about her intentions from the day we met, but I was still caught off guard by her fumbling for my face. When she found it she gripped the back of my neck, and then I felt her lips crush against mine.

I moaned into the kiss, tasting the already familiar sweetness of honey and peppermint as her lips slid silkily over mine. My body responded almost immediately to her touch as her lithe frame settled against me, her legs clenching around the outside of my thighs and her face tilting slightly to the side, giving me easier access to her mouth.

"You want to…" I gasped when she withdrew from our kissing, the feathery touch of her lips brushing along my jaw making my belly clench deliciously in anticipation. "Turn off the TV and go somewhere more—" I sucked in a sharp breath when I felt her teeth nip at my throat. "Comfortable?"

"Sounds good to me," she agreed, and after some fumbling for the remote on the small table beside the couch, there was silence.

It was far more difficult that it should have been to maneuver from the living room down the hall to Ruby's bedroom; not only because we were blind, but because we stumbled more than once over each other as we kissed, pulled at loose clothing and giggled our way through her apartment.

When we finally _did_ make it, I was both literally and figuratively in the dark. I had never been inside her bedroom before, and I had no idea where her furniture was. Anxiousness squirmed inside me as I felt her hand slip away from mine, leaving me alone at the threshold.

"Ruby?" I called out.

"Over here," I heard her voice from a few feet away, and I held my hand out, blindly feeling my way towards her. I stopped when I felt her hand brush against mine, but frowned when she slipped away again, giggling softly. "Wait right there."

And then she was gone. I stood there in the center of her room, trying to reach out with my other senses to get some idea of where I was, what was around me and what Ruby was doing.

I heard quiet shuffling – her feet, maybe, on the carpet as she walked – and tensed as I heard the creak of a bed. She was sitting down, and I reached out, hoping to find some kind of clue, or maybe her hand, beckoning to me.

But there was nothing.

"Ruby?" I called, wondering just what she was trying to accomplish. I was already pretty worked up from our short but amazing make-out session on the couch, and I would be pretty damn put out if that was all I would be getting tonight.

"Shh…"

I obediently followed her instructions and stood there, quietly listening, trying to make out something – anything – that was happening around me. I trusted her room to be relatively clean and debris-free, so I knew if I wanted to, I could take the few steps necessary to go to her. But I refrained, intent on obeying her and concentrated on listening.

It took me a while, but I eventually picked out the soft sound of her breathing in the otherwise dead silence of the room.

In… out… in… out…

Measuring it against my own breathing, I began to realize that the sound was noticeably deeper; especially for her. Another sound soon made its way to my ears, one that I couldn't identify immediately. I didn't think I had heard it before, at least not for a long time, but…

My heart skipped a beat as I realized the source, and I reflexively stepped forward, reaching out a hand to find her. Soon I managed to brush my fingers against the side of her face, and her head just barely turned in acknowledgement of my finger on her cheek.

"Weiss…" she whispered.

I swallowed, taking a moment to calm down. I needed all the concentration I could cobble together in order to fully take in my surroundings. After a moment, and some deep breaths, I managed to collect myself, and with a touch so light I wouldn't even disturb a feather, I started to move my hand down her body.

The further down I went, the more I felt myself losing focus again. Her t-shirt was cottony soft, and hugged the delicate curves of her body like a second skin. My fingertips counted the slight indentations of her ribs down to her waist, and I licked my lips as I reached the bottom of her shirt to find the smooth, bare skin of her abdomen.

I knew she was sitting – or leaning against the edge of the bed – and facing me. What else could I learn?

I found her hip, and trailed my fingers slowly downwards. I was unsurprised – and pleased – to find that her pants had been shed, and fingered the elastic of her panties. I both felt and heard Ruby's breath catch as my hand bumped into her wrist, and I tentatively followed the back of her hand to where it had it slipped beneath her underwear. I tensed, but followed her fingers to where they were nestled between her legs.

"Ruby…" I whispered, brushing my fingers along hers and feeling just the slightest bit of wetness. A subtle smell in the air around us, slightly musky and not entirely unpleasant, also served to confirm my suspicions of what she was doing.

My mental image suddenly filled in with a clear picture of what she must look like in front of me right then. I'd never even dared to imagine her – or anyone – doing this before, and being unable to see her doing it somehow only made it all the more arousing.

I imagined her there, one hand on the edge of the bed to prop herself up, the other's fingers lightly brushing through her folds between her legs, hidden by her underwear – pink and white stripes, I hazarded – and my own hand guiding hers as she moved. Even blind, it was the most erotic thing I'd ever seen.

I reached out with my free hand to touch her cheek, and her face tilted up towards me, nuzzling it, as she sighed in pleasure. I felt the corner of her mouth open against my hand, and sucked in a surprised breath when I felt her tongue run alongside it, coating my palm with her saliva.

"Weiss," she murmured, low and husky. Her voice was unbelievably sexy as she said my name and I shivered, dipping my head down low to press a kiss to the top of her head. "I want you inside me."

Well, I wasn't about to let an invitation like that go to waste. I nudged the hand inside her panties with mine, making my intentions clear. She nodded against me and pulled her hand away, letting me take over.

She was hot, unbelievably wet and velvety soft. I almost swooned when I touched her, but steadied myself to finish what was started. As I quickly matched the pace she set, I felt her free hand move around to my front and snake down the front of my jeans. My belt was cinched tight, and she growled when her hand got stuck.

"Wait… let me—" I tried to say, but was interrupted when Ruby shoved us away from the bed. I nearly stumbled, but then she reached around to my shoulder, and in a move that shocked as much as aroused me, spun me around and pushed me back. I landed with my body on the bed, my legs dangling off the end.

"Um… nevermind."

Ruby didn't reply. She undid my belt in record time, not even bothering to pull my pants completely off my legs – they bunched around my knees – before clambering atop me again, slipping her hand down to my center without preamble.

"Rub— _Hnnng!_ " I barely had time to return my hand to its place between her legs before I felt her slide through my folds and thrust a single finger inside me. I arched my back, groaning aloud, and swore I could almost see stars in the inky blackness that surrounded me.

"F-fuck," I whimpered.

"Yes… that's it…." Her voice hissed next to my ear. She smothered my neck with kisses, soft bites and licks, and her finger – soon joined by a second – drove into me, picking up speed as my cries grew in frequency.

 _Fuck_ , I never thought it could be like this.

I could barely keep up; my fingers gliding through her, periodically thrusting inside once, twice, only to pull out and brush against her clit in time with the rocking of her hips against my palm. I knew I wouldn't last long, and from the way I heard her breath catch as I thrust my fingers deep inside her, I knew she was close to the edge as well. I felt my body stiffen in preparation of my climax, and my muscles contracted around Ruby's hand, my head becoming light and limbs tingling.

"God, Weiss – I'm almost… _oh_ -!"

And then she came, her entire body tightening like a taut violin string about to snap. She arched against me, her legs squeezing me and her nails biting deep into my arm. Her fingers inside me dug and curled, and it was that, along with her crooning whine in my ear, that finally pushed me over the edge right alongside her.

For a long moment the two of us lay there in a tight, sweaty, huddled bundle of ecstasy on the bed before we relaxed; a long, drained sigh spilling from my lips and a pleased groan from Ruby's.

"Fuck…" Ruby exhaled, sounding immensely satisfied.

I laughed shakily, "Eloquent."

"Oh, shut up. It's the best I got right now." She stretched out luxuriously beside me, and then, almost too soft to notice, I felt the _thump thump thump_ of her fingertips on my belly through my shirt. I smiled, reaching down to capture her hand in mine.

"You up for another round after a short nap? Or have I scared you off for the foreseeable future?"

I snorted, and squeezed her hand tightly with my own.

"What did you have in mind?"

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 **Fin**

A/N: And there we have it. Hope those of you who made it to the end enjoyed it. It was short, and felt a bit condensed at times... but for what it was, I think it was a nice story. With sex.

And, really, isn't that what we all want out of life?

Yes? No?

Eh.

Thanks for reading!

Also, many many thanks to Foldedhands and Myrtenasterrose for beta reading and providing invaluable ways on how to improve this! Thanks! :D

 _***Will work for glomps***_


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